The Miami Dolphins defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 19-7 this Sunday to move to 8-4 on the season. The Bengals fall to 2-9-1 with the loss.

The Dolphins had another solid performance, but a brawl in the 4th quarter is what will unfortunately headline the game.

Before the brawl occurred, cornerback Xavien Howard hit receiver Tyler Boyd in the face twice. Boyd responded by taking a swing which connected with Byron Jones. Though not excessively violent, these blows were enough for the officials to eject both players.

In the 2nd quarter, Bengals safety Shawn Williams appeared to intentionally step on the ankle of guard Solomon Kindley. This was Kindley’s first game back after returning from a foot injury.

In the third quarter, Bengals gunner Michael Thomas lit up Jakeem Grant as he was fielding a punt. In the 4th quarter, Grant was again fielding a punt and Thomas laid another big hit on Grant before he could even catch the ball.

Coach Brian Flores stormed the field, visibly angry at the Bengals sideline, and the Dolphins bench joined Flores alongside him. After an altercation between both teams, receiver DeVante Parker hit a coach or staff member while trying to hit a Bengals player, and Mack Hollins also took several swings. Both Parker and Hollins, as well as Shawn Williams were ejected for their involvement in the fight.

The Dolphins started the first half looking flat, primarily on offense. The Bengals connected with Tyler Boyd on a 72-yard touchdown, which was caught at the line of scrimmage, and he ran the length of the field.

Tua Tagovailoa found an open Jakeem Grant on a streak, only for Grant to drop what would’ve been a 90+ yard touchdown. The rookie would not complete a pass beyond 10 yards in the first half, but had two tap passes to Grant that went for 20+ yards.

Cornerback Xavien Howard also had his eighth interception of the season in the first quarter, jumping in front of Boyd on a deep pass along the sideline. Howard has cemented his spot in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year.

The Dolphins ended the half down 7-6.

In the second half, the Dolphins came out looking like a different team.  On the opening drive, Tua went five-for-six, for 76 yards, finishing the drive with a five-yard touchdown to a leaping Mike Gesicki.

It was a great game from the rookie quarterback. His deep incompletion to Grant was a dime that traveled around 50 yards in the air. On a nine-yard completion to Parker, Tua displayed a terrific ability to dodge pressure, using a quick sidestep that looked like a composed veteran move.

In this game, he gave his receivers plenty of jump ball opportunity, such as his touchdown to Mike Gesicki. On some of those throws, his accuracy was undeniably off, and didn’t really give the receiver a legitimate chance. That is definitely an area he will need to improve on.

Tight end Mike Gesicki lead the receiver group here. He had a career-high nine catches, for 88 yards and a touchdown. Aside from his touchdown, he also had a terrific one-handed catch that was very Orande Gadsen-esque. As mentioned in the preview, the Bengals had surrendered the most receiving yards to tight ends, and the Dolphins took advantage of this weakness.

Receiver Lynn Bowden Jr. had his best game as pro, finishing with four catches for 41 yards, and also a carry for 11 yards. Bowden Jr. displays his masterful open-field ability, turning small plays into big gains. Considering the lack of depth at the receiver position, and lack of creativity on offense, Bowden’s involvement in the offense has a legitimate chance to grow further in the coming weeks.

Receiver Jakeem Grant had that massive drop in the first half, and also another in the second half. His only receptions came on sweep “tap passes,” which are essentially run plays where the quarterback will drop the ball in front of him as the receiver passes. The Kansas City Chiefs use these plays heavily with their own speedsters Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman. This may be the most effective way to use Jakeem Grant moving forward.

Receiver DeVante Parker had four catches for 34 yards before being ejected from the game. Parker was praised by fans on social media after the game for standing up for his teammate Jakeem Grant, who he considers a close friend of his.

Running back Myles Gaskin made his return from his MCL sprain, and regained the lead role. He was largely ineffective in the first half, finishing with seven carries for 17 yards. He was able to turn it around in the second half with several big runs, including a 26-yard run, which he fumbled. He would finish the game with 90 yards rushing and an additional 51 through the air.

Gaskin was able to show why he was the lead back when the season began — and will likely continue to be the lead with the potential for Ahmed and Washington to be in the mix.

The Bengals entered this game with 13 sacks, which was 30th in the NFL. They have struggled to cause pressure all year, and that happened again. Tagovailoa was not sacked and actually had time to throw in this game. In the first quarter, Ereck Flowers left the game with an ankle injury. Solomon Kindley would move over to left guard, and Jesse Davis was placed at right guard.

This was a dominant game from the Dolphins defense.

Linebacker Kyle Van Noy finished the game with three sacks, five tackles for a loss and a deflection which was intercepted by Nik Needham. Van Noy had an absolute field day, showcasing his versatility in both coverage and ripping through the offensive line.

Defensive linemen Shaq Lawson and Zach Sieler combined for the three other sacks by the Dolphins today.

Emmanuel Ogbah had a strip sack in this game, that was returned for a touchdown. After review, the play was ruled incomplete. That would have been Ogbah’s third strip sack this season that resulted in a touchdown.

The Dolphins defense had struggled stopping the run this season — which was the main factor that’s been holding them back from truly becoming the elite powerhouse that they could be. In this game, they held the Bengals offense to 40 yards rushing on 17 carries.

Kicker Jason Sanders is already building his legendary status, and that continued today as he went 4-for-4, connecting on each of his kicks, including a 48-yarder.

Punter Matt Haack briefly had an incredible touchdown, as the Dolphins busted out their famous mountaineer shot formation. The touchdown was brought back with an illegible formation penalty.

Takeaways:

Stop restricting Tua. I understood limiting Tua when he first became starter, as a matter of fact, I was in favor of it. But now, the team is competitive and will need to have something that resembles a threatening offense if they want to be taken serious. They can’t have more halves like the first half of this one. They can’t have instances where it’s first and goal, and the team elects to run it each time. Some of it is definitely on Tua, who makes those decisions on the RPO’s, but the offense needs to be opened up more for him.

Brian Flores should be Coach of the Year. Now, there’s a realistic chance that it goes to Tomlin, just based on how well the Steelers are performing and their record. Despite that, Flores should be firmly in that conversation. The way he, Chris Grier, and the rest of the staff built this roster from the ground up — turning role players like Eric Rowe and Nik Needham into respectable starters. Helping young players like DeVante Parker, Emmanuel Ogbah, Brandon Jones and Mike Gesicki take that next step. And seeing the way he took to the field to defend his players today is nothing shy of outstanding. Coach Flo deserves a standing ovation.